Elucidations: Medieval Poetry and Its Religious Backgrounds

The twenty-seven reprinted essays and one so far unpublished lecture assembled in this collection deal with works by Chaucer, Langland, Dante, Petrarch, Middle-English lyrics and drama, and several broader topics, such as the Three Enemies of Man, the pilgrimage of life, and the figure of the wise fool. In them Siegfried Wenzel applies his long-standing interest and study of contemporary works of religious instruction, especially medieval sermons and penitential literature to elucidate different aspects of major works of vernacular medieval poetry as well as of smaller details that have caused critical concern. Most of the essays contain hitherto unpublished medieval Latin texts. With a foreword by Nigel Palmer.